science wire

For the first time ever, an EPFL laboratory has carried out a complete energy analysis of a straw house, from planting the grass to the destruction of the materials.

To handle large amounts of data from detailed brain models, IBM, EPFL, and ETH Zürich are collaborating on a new hybrid memory strategy for supercomputers.

Heidelberg. The second annual summit of the Human Brain Project (HBP) begins today at the University of Heidelberg. Nearly 400 participants from a dozen countries will present their key results and discuss the future challenges facing global collaborative brain research. Having expanded to 112 Partners in 24 countries in its first year, the HBP is well-placed to set new the frontiers of neuroscience, medicine, and computing.

The agreement signed in 2010 between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and EPFL was renewed yesterday, a few hours before the WEF opening ceremony in Davos, in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Keqian

Another large company installs itself on EPFL's campus. Today, Siemens Healthcare, leader in medical technology, and the medical radiology department of the CHUV inaugurated their new facilities hosting a group of scientists in medical imaging. This unique research unit is collaborating with HUG, CIBM and EPFL.

CFF (Swiss Federal Railways) are extending their collaboration with the University of St. Gallen, to EPFL and ETHZ.

A high-performance monitoring system displays fluctuations in real-time in the power distribution grid of an entire section of the EPFL campus. This installation represents an important step towards the realistic deployment of the smart grids concept for the massive integration of renewables. Imagine for a moment the idea of powering a neighborhood, a city or even an entire country with solar or wind energy alone.

New therapies are on the horizon for individuals paralyzed following spinal cord injury. The e-Dura implant developed by EPFL scientists can be applied directly to the spinal cord without causing damage and inflammation.

This year a great deal of research done at EPFL made the headlines in newspapers. Here are a few that marked the months of September to December.

This year a great deal of research done at EPFL made the headlines in newspapers. Here are a few that marked the months of May to August.

This year a great deal of research done at EPFL made the headlines in newspapers. Here are a few that marked the first 4 months of the year.

EPFL scientists take a significant step in our understanding of superconductivity by studying the strange quantum events in a unique superconducting material. Cuprates are materials with great promise for achieving superconductivity at higher temperatures (-120 o C). This could mean low-cost electricity without energy loss.

Today, the company Gaznat SA and EPFL signed an agreement for the creation of two new research chairs. The first one will study ways to seize carbon dioxide (CO2) at its production source and increase its value through its derivatives. The second will be devoted to underground CO2 storage and geo-energy.

EPFL start-ups have raised private capital exceeding 220 million Swiss francs in 2014, which is twice the amount of the previous year.

EPFL scientists have picked up an atypical photon emission in X-rays coming from space, and say it could be evidence for the existence of a particle of dark matter. If confirmed, it could open up new perspectives in cosmology. Could there finally be tangible evidence for the existence of dark matter in the Universe? After sifting through reams of X-ray data, scientists in EPFL's Laboratory of Particle Physics and Cosmology (LPPC) and Leiden University believe they could have identified the signal of a particle of dark matter.

The Council of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH board) announced today the appointment of Diego Ghezzi to direct the EPFL Medtronic Chair in Neuroengineering.

JPEG is the image format we use the most in the world, be it in our computers, smartphones or digital cameras.

PayOneSnap is a young EPFL start-up that has developed a unique mobile payment solution for e-commerce websites.

The distance people travel for professional purposes is increasing. Scientists are taking a closer look at these 21st century nomads, uncovering the reasons behind the long kilometers and the consequences on commuters' lives.

A tracking system for athletes, currently used by the Montreux Volley Masters, provides real-time statistics during the game on players and the ball.

Cells have their own tiny skeletons that are responsible for many important cellular functions. EPFL scientists have developed novel fluorescent probes for imaging these important structures easily and with unprecedented resolution.

The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced the appointment of three professors at EPFL.

Transported by water or wind, sediments have a significant impact on the environment, and we cannot really quantify the magnitude of these events.

EPFL scientists are creating futuristic furniture that can move around and autonomously change its shape.

A protocol based on "discrete logarithms", deemed as one of the candidates for the Internet's future security systems, was decrypted by EPFL researchers. Allegedly tamper-proof, it could only stand up to the school machines' decryption attempts for two hours. Without cryptography, no one would dare to type their credit card number on the Internet.

EPFL scientists have come up with a "how-to manual" for making the most efficient optical graphene circuits possible. The procedure facilitates and accelerates technological development in this future field. The research has been published in the scientific journal "Nature Photonics." Thanks to its amazing properties, graphene hold great promise as the basis for new chips that are faster, better-performing and more compact.

Solar thermal panels developed at EPFL are are dressed up in unique and patented new materials. Researchers created a stronger black coating that retains its original color and thereby its absorption properties much longer than traditional panels. Like most elements of a building, the lifespan of a solar thermal panel is between 25 and 30 years.

Lemoptix is developing an ultra-compact projector. The EPFL spin-off has already successfully entered a very competitive market, and will target new markets in 2014.

At its meeting held in December, the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology appointed seven professors at EPFL. Drazen Dujic as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the School of Engineering (STI) . Drazen Dujic is an experienced researcher with a focus on power electronics.

A natural antibiotic turns out to be a lethal weapon in the fight against tuberculosis. Scientists have discovered it has an unexpected dual action that dramatically reduces the probability that TB bacteria will become resistant. Technology has made it possible to synthesize increasingly targeted drugs.

Researchers at EPFL have managed to combine antennas and solar cells to work together with unprecedented efficiency in a near future. This is a first step towards more compact and more lightweight satellites. The technology could also be deployed in the autonomous antenna systems used in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Robotic cheetah cubs and salamanders have ventured from Lausanne into the depths of London's robot jungle, at the Science Museum, in a Robot Safari that just opened and runs until Sunday.

How cities will grow in the future depends on fundamental laws, which have been uncovered by EPFL researchers. Migration patterns into and out of cities are the result of millions of individual decisions, which in turn are affected by thousands of factors like economics, location, politics, security, aesthetics, sentiments and others.

New insights into the growth dynamics of minuscule marine organisms could help put the study of Earth's climate, both present and prehistoric, on a more solid footing. For hundreds of millions of years, the tiny shells of single-celled marine organisms called foraminifera have been accumulating on the ocean floor.

EPFL researchers have shown that copper is essential for the energy production of malignant cells, and that reducing its intake via food and water can slow down tumor growth. Copper imbalances have been associated with a number of pathological conditions, including cancer. Publishing in PNAS scientists at EPFL have found that copper in drinking water - given at the maximum levels permitted in public water supplies - accelerated the growth of tumors in mice.

The Forge, located in EPFL's Innovation Park, provides aspiring entrepreneurs an office to develop their startup as well as a location for networking and advice.

One of the methods used for examining the molecules in a liquid consists in passing the fluid through a nano-sized hole so as to detect their passage. EPFL researchers have found a way to improve this technique by using a material with unique properties: graphene. If we wanted to count the number of people in a crowd, we could make on the fly estimates, very likely to be imprecise, or we could ask each person to pass through a turnstile.

Scientists at EPFL have developed a quick and simple method for connecting and assembling new molecules together, paving a new road for synthetic chemistry, material science, chemical biology, and even drug discovery. Thiols are sulfur-containing molecules found in most proteins of the human body. Characterized by their 'garlicky' smell, they also give coffee, sweat and the spray of skunks their unique odor.

SUMMER SERIES (4) - For her semester project, an EPFL Master's student applied a different approach to tracking the flow of the crowds at the Paléo music festival - using cell phone data and statistics.

The European Commission has officially announced the selection of the Human Brain Project (HBP) as one of its two FET Flagship projects.

The "Frontiers in" journal series brings its peer review model to 13 new fields. The EPFL startup Frontiers announced today that it is launching 13 new open-access journals in fields including Physics, Bioengineering, and Public Health. These new titles will more than double Frontiers' current repertoire of twelve online journals whose peer-reviewed, scientific articles are immediately accessible, free of charge, to anyone.

Specializing in the diagnosis of glaucoma, a spin-off of EPFL has just completed a major round of financing which should enable it, among other things, to penetrate the American and Chinese markets.

A bridge with a balsa wood core was built in Bex, Switzerland. The prefabricated bridge deck was mounted in a single day.

Many types of cancer could originate from a mechanism that cells use to silence genes. This process, which is essential in embryonic development, might be accidentally reactivated in tumor cells, according to EPFL scientists. There are some genes that are only activated in the very first days of an embryo's existence.

Scientists at EPFL and the University of Geneva have developed a microfluidic device smaller than a domino that can simultaneously measure up to 768 biomolecular interactions. Inside our cells, molecules are constantly binding and separating from one another. It's this game of constant flux that drives gene expression asides essentially every other biological process.

Pedro Bados, co-founder of Nexthink, EPFL spin-off, dreams of making the region a breeding ground for start-ups.

Proof of concept: researchers identify principles to support brain simulation models One of the greatest challenges in neuroscience is to identify the map of synaptic connections between neurons. Called the "connectome," it is the holy grail that will explain how information flows in the brain. In a landmark paper, published the week of 17th of September in PNAS, the EPFL's Blue Brain Project (BBP) has identified key principles that determine synapse-scale connectivity by virtually reconstructing a cortical microcircuit and comparing it to a mammalian sample.

When glaciers melt, new lakes are formed. Can we take advantage of this? An EPFL student has studied the possibility of using these natural reservoirs to help boost hydroelectric power production in the canton Valais - and thus help Switzerland as it transitions into a future without nuclear power.

Technology developed at EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute to transform microorganisms into methane gas will be presented at the Swiss Energy and Climate Summit taking place this week in Bern.